Iraq Blocks Telegram App Over National Security Concerns

Iraq's telecoms ministry said it has blocked the Telegram messaging app over national security concerns and in order to preserve the integrity of users' personal data, which it said the app had mishandled. From a report: The app is widely used in Iraq for messaging but also as a source of news and for sharing content. Some channels contain large amounts of personal data including the names, addresses and family ties of Iraqis. The ministry said in a statement it had asked the app to close down "platforms that leak the data of the official state institutions and the personal data of citizens... but the company did not respond and did not interact with any of these requests."

Richochet

[Bruce66423]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] is a Tor based messaging system that provides instant chat this is untrackable, It seems to be seldom talked about. Are there issues here apart from the fact only a point to point messaging service? It would appear to be very resistant to state interference, requiring the total shutdown of the internet to prevent it allowing the spread of message.

Re:Richochet

[bill_mcgonigle]

How does it compare with Briar?

https://briarproject.org/ [briarproject.org]

I like that Briar works well over Bluetooth and Sneakernet as well as Tor.

One of the last things I heard from Assange was that Briar is trustworthy (an implication to not trust Signal was there - phone numbers are obviously a problem).

Re:

[ole_timer]

...ricochet requires both ends to use TOR which is not always possible in certain countries...

It's always national security

[Baron_Yam]

Social media should always be considered a national security threat, but blocking foreign nations only makes it slightly more difficult for intelligence agencies to utilize.

On the other hand, it makes legal corporate data mining more difficult, so there's probably a market advantage to protect there.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean social networks.

Honeypot

[bill_mcgonigle]

If you lose your phone, put in your # and Telegram will return all your data to you.

Totally ROT-13 secure.

I can't believe people trust it with dangerous information.

Re:Honeypot

[Opportunist]

I can't believe people trust any antisocial data miner with personal information, yet ... here we are.

Dictators gonna dick

[Uldis Segliņš]

Well what do you expect? They have learned the lesson of Belarus failing and Russia kind of winning over Telegram. It is a threat to them. Of course they will block it. But providing just above minimal poverty people will still find ways to communictae without tators looking.